


The Advantages of Whitelighters

by Estirose, tptigger



Series: Charmed Life [4]
Category: Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: Gen, also this is Eric's annex to Kira's library of issues, no canon Charmed characters, semi-crossover with Charmed, we finally posted this!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 07:35:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13608612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/pseuds/tptigger
Summary: Eric is concerned when he thinks his meter maid has realized he's a Power Ranger. The truth is even weirder than he was expecting.





	The Advantages of Whitelighters

**Author's Note:**

> This has been a goal for us to get this sucker posted for longer than we care to admit, but we finally finished! Many thanks to Rivulet027 for the beta to help us finally finish!
> 
> And with this story, this series is finished, thank you very much for bearing with us, we know it's been a long time!

Eric sighed as he pulled up and parked his car. He really should've been glad to see Sarah, the overly friendly meter maid, as it meant that he wouldn't have an estimated gas bill for once (hotter weather meant he used less heat, and his average was dropping, but the actual readings instead of the self ones counted for more weight). The problem was that Sarah was extremely annoying.

And right now she was chatting amicably with Alice from next door, who had been "decorating" his walk with chalk. (Alice had filled her own walk two days previous, and seemed to consider his an alternate canvas.) Sarah sat, watching Alice describe her work with rapt attention.

Eric stepped up to them, his shadow falling across them.

"Hi, Eric!" Alice bubbled.

Sarah looked up, squinted, and then stared at him open mouthed.

Crap. He was still in his work uniform.

"Hi, Mr. Myers," Sarah said, bouncing up from where she'd been talking with Alice.

"Is it meter day all ready?" Eric asked, mildly.

"I didn't know you were a Silver Guardian, do you know the Power Rangers?" Sarah asked, her eyes going wide.

"If I did, I couldn't tell you," Eric replied as he unlocked the door. "You know where the meter is."

"Who would I tell?" Sarah asked. "It's just that they saved my cousin who works at Biolab, and she wanted to thank them."

Eric shrugged, inwardly rolling his eyes. "I'll see if I can pass that along."

The meter maid looked like she was going to clap, but at least she restrained herself. Instead, she looked down, eyes still wide, at the morpher on his wrist.

Hopefully she'd think it was some high-tech communicator. He was hired to do his job, not be squealed over by fangirls.

"Thank you so much! I knew you were a force for good! Now, let's go look at your meter."

He wanted to roll his eyes again. Instead, he took her over to the meter. Yes, she could have found it herself, but he didn't want to find out that she was the kind of fangirl that wandered off with things.

She read the meter quickly, constantly looking back at him as if afraid he might disappear or something.

Eric was racking his brain. Was this really the first time she'd caught him in uniform? He was really, really sure that this was completely out of character for her. Or at least as out of character for her as he could divine from the times she'd read his meter. _Seriously, Myers, why are you so worried about an overly-enthusiastic meter maid?_

Who was always kind of perky, but never this.. assessing. Though she was asking fewer questions than usual, it seemed almost like she was tongue-tied.

Oh, crap. Maybe she wasn't as easily convinced as he'd hoped.

The last thing he needed was the whole Ranger community coming down on him. How did she suddenly suspect? Lots of people had seen his morpher and his uniform and hadn't put two and two together. Had she been tipped off or something? He resolved to ask Tommy Oliver about anything like this--if anybody would know if something bigger was going on, he would.

"So, looking good!" Sarah said finally, making a note. "I'll be back in a month, do good until then. Call if you have any problems."

She was out his door, leaving him still figuring things out in her wake. Some part of him wanted to just attribute it to paranoia, while the rest of him said there was something more going on. And it wasn't because every time he called the gas company he ended up in voicemail hell.

Yeah, definitely calling Tommy Oliver. Eric picked up the phone and dialed.

"Wes? Did you get a new phone?" Oliver asked.

"It's Eric."

"Sorry, Eric, I saw the Silver Hills area code and assumed. This is good, I had something I wanted to talk to you about, but it can wait. What's going on? You don't usually call me."

"Got nothing to call you about," Eric said. "But this time... yeah. My meter maid's making me paranoid."

That wasn't a sentence he'd ever thought he'd utter in his lifetime.

"Your..." Oliver paused, and Eric could practically hear Oliver doing a double take over the phone. "...meter maid? How so?"

"She was..." Eric hesitated. "I don't know, insisting that I was a 'force for good' and..."

"Those were her exact words?" Oliver interrupted. "A force for good."

"Yeah," Eric said. 

Oliver swore. Eric's hand jerked in surprise, the phone sliding from his grip; fortunately, Eric recovered and he got a hold of it before it could fall.

"Do you think she suspects I'm a Power Ranger?" Eric asked, wondering if he'd somehow invited the wrath of Tommy Oliver on him. This wasn't good, was it?

"It's worse than that," Oliver said. "It's possible that she's suspected for a long time, and it's been recently confirmed."

"Um, Oliver, that doesn't make any sense," Eric said.

"Look, you have to promise not to tell Kira about this, but..." 

"Who's Kira?"

"One of my students? The current Yellow Ranger. Do you check your secure sever account at all?"

"Wes said you'd picked up the morpher again, didn't think the whole thing needed a going over. Did you say these Rangers are your students?"

"It's a long story, but it's all there. As for what's going on..." He heard Oliver take a deep breath. "I think this meter maid is your Whitelighter. They're guardian angels for good guys, and they recently discovered who we were."

"I don't exactly count as a good guy. Or a 'force for good'." He really didn't. Sure, he'd shown up a few times to help out--or hinder--but he wasn't a good guy.

"Wes might have a different opinion about that," Oliver said. "But anyway, we think that one of your parents--possibly your father--was a witch. Yeah, it sounds weird. But anyway, 'force for good' runs in your family, and you got a Whitelighter because of that."

Eric would have stared, but there was no one to stare at.

"How do you know this?" Eric said. "And why shouldn't I tell Kira?"

"Kira has a Whitelighter," Oliver said, "because her mother is a witch. Apparently Kira should be to, except that she isn't."

"You mean a Wiccan?" Eric asked. "Did she convert?"

"No, I mean a witch. Magic powers. Fights demons."

"Like Lightspeed?"

"Not exactly," Oliver said. "Though apparently these guys were trying to infiltrate Lightspeed and have been trying to get people assigned to the Power Rangers for years, except that no one knew who we were, until Kira became a Ranger and her Whitelighter figured it out."

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you to teach those kids how to have secret identities," Eric said.

"It wasn't her fault, there was a spell on the Rangers to make Whitelighters look like monsters, so of course when her Whitelighter, whose name is Chris by the way, showed up looking like a crayfish..."

"The cat was out of the bag," Eric said, "but where do I figure into it?"

Oliver took a deep breath. "Apparently, because of your family, you've had a Whitelighter for years, it's just that she didn't know what you were until last night. Kira feels guilty about it because she might have given them a clue to your identity."

"And I just confirmed it. Great." Eric shook his head. It was going to be one of those days.

"We're trying to convince them that we don't need Whitelighters, but you and Kira might always have them because of your families."

"I don't need one either." Eric had a sinking feeling that he was stuck with Sarah anyway. "What do we need to do to convince them?"

"You don't need to do anything--this is something the active team has to deal with."

"Oliver, in case you've forgotten, Wes and I still have active powers," Eric said. "That argument might work for Taylor, but for Wes and I..."

"Great," Oliver said. "I hadn't thought of that."

"So can Wes expect to have someone following him around now too?"

"I negotiated for us to have one Whitelighter for the whole team," Oliver said. "Well, two. Kira's had a string of them and actually gets along with the current one. He had too many--I think the word they used was 'charges'--so they're going to assign us someone else. My guess is they'll give Wes your overly friendly meter maid if they figure this out."

"Ok, so she's... what going to make sure we eat our vegetables or what?" Eric asked.

"They have a lot of information," Oliver said, "but mostly about demons and monsters we don't worry about. And healing powers which the Power pretty much negates, so I'm not sure why they think we need them. The Elder--that's kind of a Whitelighter boss--I spoke to said that they could also be a sounding board, but we have entire teams for that. They mostly look after witches and their families."

"So, wait." Eric had a feeling, deep in his stomach. What if? "You said they have information."

"I can hear the wheels turning, Eric what are you thinking?"

"They've been tracking my family?"

"If this woman's been in your life for a long time, then probably."

"I wonder if we agreed to not protest to much if they'd be up for information exchange," Eric said.

"Eric, they're supposed to be the good guys, you could just _ask_ them if they have information about your father."

"If they're the good guys, why don't you want me to mention this to Kira?"

"She's had some bad experiences with hers."

"Well, my lips are sealed. But what do you want me to do about Sarah?"

"She won't tell," Oliver said. "Unless she starts showing up to annoy other people, like Wes or Taylor and her team--let her be while they realize that we don't need protecting. You might want to give Wes or Taylor a heads up--especially if you decide to ask her about information about your father. I think..." Oliver paused. "It might be a good idea."

"If we're gonna be stuck with them, more me and Kira than others, we might as well make use of them," Eric said. "I do want to know how they found me, too. We certainly don't want the bad guys figuring it out!"

"Kira made a guess based on your name and accidentally freaked out in front of Chris and let it slip; I assume they went looking for you."

"Sarah's been my meter maid since I moved to Silver Hills. So why was she sniffing around before I was even a Ranger?"

"She's probably been your guardian angel for a while, she just didn't have reason to approach you before," Oliver said. "Kira's guardians have been with her all her life."

"So if..."

"Eric?"

"I'm going to give Wes a call," Eric said. "Sorry to panic you for no good reason."

"That sounds like a good idea." Oliver sounded relieved. "Sorry I didn't give you the heads up. I think I was hoping for both your sake and Kira's that they wouldn't find you."

"I'll live," Eric said wryly. "I'll make something of it. You might suggest to Kira about that too."

"I think if I told her they found you, her guilt meter will reach eleven."

"It's unusual for powers to skip generations?" Eric asked.

"Apparently. The minute they found out about Kira, they decided she didn't have magic because she was going to be a Power Ranger."

"If I were they, I'd be looking at any other people in magic families that didn't have powers," Eric said. "If she finds out they found me, we can tell her they would have found out about us anyway. I better call Wes. He'll probably be even happier about this."

"Not," Oliver said. "And Eric? I was adopted, and I met my birth brother. I know it's not the same, but if you want to talk...."

"Right," Eric said. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Cool, man," Oliver said. "Take care of yourself, and keep in touch, okay?"

"Will do," Eric said. He sighed, pressing the end button. "I'm starting to sound like Wes."

* * *

 

"So, you have a what?" Wes asked--Eric could tell he was trying not to laugh--as Eric explained the whole thing to him and Taylor.

"Guardian angel," Eric said, sounding abashed... at least for Eric.

"That would explain how we've gotten out of some tight scrapes," Wes said.

"Yes, Wes, your Ranger powers had nothing to do with it," Taylor said sarcastically.

"Well, I don't get the impression she was exactly _paying attention_ until she found about the big shiny morpher on my wrist."

"Okay," Taylor said. "And this was because Kira, the current Yellow Ranger, also has a guardian angel who figured out that she's a Power Ranger."

"Yes, which we are not going to mention to Kira at any beach party ever," Eric said. "So she doesn't have a guilt trip."

"Okay," Taylor said, eyeing Eric critically. "But how'd they connect you to Kira?"

"They didn't, Kira did--Oliver didn't say exactly how, but it had something to do with my name; they think my father might have been a witch."

"Your father? You mean the one that you haven't heard from in...."

"Years, yes," Eric said pointedly. "Seems magical ability--and the ability to acquire magical guardians--runs in the family."

"But you don't have any," Wes pointed out.

"Unless you've been holding out on us," Taylor said, poking Eric in the ribs.

"Yeah, well, apparently I didn't get any magic because it was my destiny to strap on a morpher instead."

Wes snorted. "I don't know if that's a fair trade or not."

"From what Oliver implied about Kira's life, I think I'll take the morpher," Eric said. "Still, the thing is, my dad probably has one of these magical guardians..."

"The same one?" Wes asked. "I'll bet you dollars to donuts that Kira's Whitelighter is also her mother's, and the rest of Tommy's current Ranger team has the same one."

"Oliver said the rest of the team had a different one from Kira; as for her mom---hard to know, but I get the feeling they talk, you know what I'm saying?"

"Can't you just hire a private detective to track down your dad like a normal person?" Taylor teased.

"I tried that," Eric said, "right after we beat Ransik and I got promoted to co-leader of the Silver Guardians."

"So you're going for the supernatural approach?" Wes asked. "Eric, are you sure he wants to be found?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Eric said. "Oliver said these guys were pretty goody-goody, so they might not let me see him if there's a good reason. But they might tell me if he's alive and what he's up to."

"And if they're really goody goody they just might pressure him into seeing you?" Taylor asked.

"Given how my meter maid and presumably Kira's guardians have acted, they just might."

"So I presume you need us to cover for you for your next meter reading?" Taylor asked.

"I can deal with her, and I don't want her getting any... ideas."

Wes cocked an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Adopting you two, for starters. Apparently Oliver couldn't convince them to stick to just Kira--they had to protect the whole team."

"Tell her she can protect me when Shayla shows up and gives me my morpher back," Taylor said bitterly.

"Taylor doesn't have a morpher, she wouldn't be able to tell anyway," Wes said.

"Oliver's concerned--apparently they were trying to get to the Lightspeed Rangers back in the day."

"Can't get us if they don't know who we are," Taylor said practically.

"Two words Taylor: Justin's dad," Wes said.

"Justin's dad?" Taylor echoed.

"Figured out that Justin was the Blue Turbo Ranger and who his first set of teammates were after the Space Rangers exposed their identities in Angel Grove."

"Space Rangers," Taylor said. "Do they have guardian angels?"

"Don't know, didn't ask, and I'm not sure _Oliver_ knows. Hell, I don't think Oliver knows who his Guardian Angel is."

"Interesting," Wes said. "Wonder if you guys have the same one."

"Dunno," Eric said. "Could be. Maybe we'll never know."

"In any case, I'm not going to have a guardian angel," Taylor said.

"In the meantime, Eric has to figure out how to call his," Wes said.

Eric checked his watch. "It's late, I'll call Oliver in the morning."

* * *

"You have to what?" Wes asked as he and Taylor walked into Eric's place the next evening.

"Call her name out loud," Eric said. "That's what Oliver said anyway."

Taylor flopped onto his couch. "I get why you wanted moral support, but are we sure it's a good idea to call her with us here?"

"I'm hoping if we give them an inch, they'll let the rest go," Eric said. "If you're that worried, you can go; she's going to find Wes anyway if she follows me at all--he has a morpher and works for the Guardians."

Taylor leaned forward, resting her head on her fist. "Oh, I'm not missing this."

Eric took a deep breath. "Sarah?"

A cloud of blue sparks came in from the ceiling and coalesced into his meter maid, although instead of her usual uniform, she wore jeans and a paint-spattered t-shirt.

"What's wrong? You never call me! Well, because you don't know how to call me..." she paused, her mouth making an "o" shape. "I take it you heard from the Reefside team and that's why you know how to call me but..."

"Nothing's wrong, we just need to have a chat with you," Eric said. Had he accidentally called 911 for what amounted to something that should have gone to the non-emergency line for the police?

"Oh, you have friends!" the woman declared. "Sarah Smith. Pleased to meet you."

Eric and Taylor exchanged worried glances. What exactly did _that_ mean?

"He's not as prickly as he used to be or haven't you noticed?" Wes asked.

Eric whacked him upside the head. "Don't encourage her."

"Good friends," Sarah noted in amusement. "I've never seen you before." Her eyes dropped to Wes' morpher.

"Don't even think about it," Eric said.

Sarah practically bounced. Really did bounce. "You must be Wes Collins," she said. "I've heard of you." She bounced again.

"You've heard of me?" Wes asked.

"Oliver been flapping his gums?" Eric asked.

"I've been catching up on the Silver Guardians ever since I knew what Eric was," Sarah said cheerfully.

Eric sighed. "OK, since we're all pretty much out in the open here, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure!" Sarah said. "I'll do what I can to help. I am your Whitelighter, after all."

"Can you help me get in touch with my dad?"

"I'll see what I can do," Sarah promised, biting her lip. "Family is always good."

She looked at Eric and Taylor appraisingly.

"What?" Eric asked, uncomfortably aware that Taylor was inexplicably blushing.

Sarah just smiled.

"What?" Eric said. Oh, she couldn't be serious! "I can't just want to talk to my dad? I have to want to introduce him to people?"

Sarah smiled again. "I'll see what I can do," she repeated, and disappeared in a stream of light.

"Oh god, she probably thinks we're engaged or something."

"Probably," Wes echoed, amused.

Taylor thwacked his arm. "It's not funny!"

"I'm sure you'll clear up the misconception, Taylor," Wes said.

The stream of light came back. "Okay, I've given him your phone number," Sarah announced cheerfully.

"How did you get my phone number?" Eric asked, not really wanting to know.

"I'm your Whitelighter. Of course I know your phone number!" Sarah pronounced cheerfully. "I have to go, though. Another charge is calling."

She formed into light again, leaving the three alone.

"Somehow I wish I could talk to Kira about how to survive these guys," Eric muttered.

"Well, you _could_ ," Wes pointed out. "But Tommy would be pissed."

"Yeah, but if these guys get any ideas, we're gonna need her expertise."

"Cross that bridge when we come to it," Taylor said. "Besides, I'm sure Tommy and the others will get a lot of Kira's wisdom on that matter. You can always grill Tommy."

"Got a point there," Wes pointed out. "I'm sure if she attaches to me she'll let me know."

"I just can't believe she has my phone number," Eric muttered.

"Yes, Eric, because that information isn't publicly available," Taylor said sarcastically.

"My cell phone is unlisted," he pointed out.

"She could've given him the landline," Wes pointed out.

"That's unlisted too," Eric said. "I don't like being bothered by the press."

"In your file with the gas company?" Wes suggested.

"Wes, there is no way she could have gotten my... shit."

"Eric?" Taylor asked.

"That's where she probably did get it," Eric said, shaking his head. "Let's hope that Oliver's right, and we convince them we don't need them soon."

"Look on the bright side," Wes said. "Your dad might call."

"Yeah," Eric said. "On the other hand, he might not."

"And in the meantime," Taylor said, "Talk to Tommy and see if he thinks they might be going after _inactive_ Rangers."

"He was concerned about you and your team, actually," Eric said.

"Maybe we'll get Merrick's phone number out of the deal," Taylor muttered.

"Does Merrick even have a phone number?" Wes asked.

Taylor just glared.

Eric's cell phone started ringing.

He stared at it.

"Eric, you just called a guardian angel to give your dad your phone number," Wes said. "Answer the damn phone."

"H...hello?" Eric said, his voice breaking.

Taylor and Wes quietly crept out of the room.

"Eric, it's your dad. Are you all right?"

"I..." Eric paused. He wasn't expecting that question.

"You asked Sarah to have me call. You haven't ever done that."

"I didn't know Sarah was more than a meter maid until yesterday," Eric said.

"What happened? Were there demons? Do I need to have Sarah orb me there?"

"She can do that?" Eric asked, wondrous. "No, no demons." That was Lightspeed, but his dad wasn't to know that. "I... my destiny was elsewhere, but I found out about Sarah, and you just disappeared you know? And I thought she might know you and..."

"I'm sorry Eric. Demons were tracking me--with you and your mother without magic, I thought it best to split up and your mother hid so well I never found you again."

"Did mom know? About the demons?"

"I had to tell her then, but I don't think she believed me." Eric's father paused. "Where are you these days?"

"Silver Hills."

"I'll be there on mortal business next week, maybe we could meet up for lunch?"

"I'd like that," Eric said. "I'll check my calendar when I get to work and then give you a call."

"Sounds good, son. Take care of yourself, I have to run."

The line clicked off.

"Well?" Wes asked.

"We're having lunch next week." Eric looked at his friends. He smiled.

The End


End file.
